The Criminology Academy

Shadd Maruna is Head of the Department of Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology at the University of Liverpool. His research focuses on how individuals desist from crime and reintegrate into society, emphasizing the transformative power of identity and narrative. Shadd’s influential book, Making Good, introduced the concept of the “redemption script,” reshaping our understanding of desistance. He served as President of the Ame...

This week, we spoke with Rod Brunson about one of the most urgent and challenging topics in criminology: race and policing.

Rod K. Brunson is a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, College Park. His tackles issues on police including community relations, youth violence, and evidence-based criminal justice policy. He has consistently called for effective crime reduction strat...

In this episode, we are joined by Professor Chris Uggen to chat about his work on voting rights for people with criminal convictions.

Chris Uggen is Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight Professor in Sociology, Law, and Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a fellow of the American Society of Criminology. He studies crime, law, and inequality, firm in the belief that sound research can help build a more justice a...

In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Scott Duxbury about his work on group politics and the sociology of punishment.

Scott W. Duxbury is an Associate Professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research examines social networks, criminal law, mass incarceration, racism, public opinion, drug markets, and computational methods. His work has appeared in American Sociological Review, Amer...

Welcome to Episode 117 of The Criminology Academy podcast, where we are criminally academic. In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Benjamin Comer and his work around school shootings.

Benjamin Comer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University. His research focuses on gun violence, school gun violence, and mass gun violence. His additional areas of research ...

In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Zach Hamilton about his work on risk-needs assessments.

Zachary Hamilton is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Associate Director of the Nebraska Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska Omaha. His research centers on innovation in risk and needs assessment development. Specifically, he works directly with adult corrections and juvenile justice agen...

In this episode we speak with David Kirk about the gig economy (Uber; AirBnb) and how it relates to crime. 

David Kirk is a professor in the Department of Criminology and Research Associate of the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and previously served on the faculties at the University of Oxford, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Un...

We spoke with Professor Megan Augustyn about public beliefs and rape, the Rochester Youth Development Study, and research on middle adulthood.

Megan Augustyn is an associate professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. She received her PhD in 2013 from the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on the study of the causes and consequences of crime, victimization, and other health-ri...

This week we speak with Joseph Schwartz about the effect traumatic brain injuries can have on criminal behavior. We also discussed correctional officer mental health and its impact on thej ob. 

Joseph A. Schwartz is an associate professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. His current work focuses on the long-term physical and mental health implications of chronic stress exposure, as w...

Teresa Kulig is an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where she coordinates the Doctoral and Fast Track programs. Dr. Kulig is also co-director of the Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab. She earned her PhD from the University of Cincinnati in 2018. Her research interests include studying the nature and control of sex and labor trafficking, the measurem...

This week we speak with Colby Valentine about what it's like to be a Professor of Instruction at a major university. 

Colby Valentine is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. Dr. Valentine received her B.A. in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from the University of Pacific (2005), her M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from San Diego State Univ...

This week we spoke with Professor Tom Tyler. We reflected on his career and how he became interested in criminology. We also discuss his major contributions to the field: his work on police legitimacy and procedural justice. Finally, Tom gives us his thoughts on the field and advice for the future. 

Tom Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor Emeritus of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, as well as a Founding Dir...

This week, we talked to Tim Barnum about his work on people's perceptions of risk and deterrence from crime. 

Timothy Barnum is currently an assistant professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. Prior to Sam Houston, Dr. Barnum was a Senior Researcher at Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. He received his PhD from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Uni...

This week we spoke with Laura DeMarco about cumulative disadvantage and contact with the criminal justice system.

Laura DeMarco is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. Her research asks questions about how the criminal justice system reflects, reproduces, and creates various inequalities, with attention to how the legal and economic context shape the stigma of a criminal record. L...

We talk to Professor Megan Denver about her work on labeling, stigma, and person-first language.

Megan Denver is an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice and the Director of the Corrections and Reentry Lab at Northeastern University. Megan’s research interests include criminal record stigma, employment and recidivism, credentialing decisions for people with criminal records, and desistance. To investigate questi...